


To Carry On

by theministerskat



Series: Kat's Other Outlander Tales [2]
Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Book Speculation, Book: Bees, Canon Compliant, Cucumbers, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, missing moment, other outlander tales, sexual innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 01:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15718842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theministerskat/pseuds/theministerskat
Summary: Claire tells Brianna about her marriage to Lord John.





	To Carry On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt passed on to @otheroutlandertales from @imagineclaireandjamie over on Tumblr: Brianna’s reaction to finding out her mother married Lord John.

“Oh, Mama! You didn’t!” Bree gave up trying to contain the laughter that had been building in her belly over the course of her mother’s story, shared as they worked together in the garden. “Lord John, really?”

 

“Well, what else was I supposed to do, hmm?” Bree could tell her mother was trying hard not to break out in a fit of giggles herself, but the color rising up her neck and the hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth gave her away. 

 

“Should I have gone willing and without a fight to the gallows with all the other old lady spies then?” Claire did laugh at that. “Marrying John seemed like the lesser of the two evils at the time.”

 

Bree shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all and continued plucking cucumbers from their vines.  

 

This was the first opportunity she had gotten to spend time alone with her mother since she, Roger, and the kids had arrived on the Ridge two days prior. Claire had come to the Higginses’ cabin that morning, shooing Jem and Mandy off to help their father and grandfather tend to the livestock and requesting Brianna’s assistance in her garden. Bree had seen her mother’s request for what it was: an excuse to have a conversation between the two of them without interruption.

 

As their laughter died down, they settled into a companionable silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence. 

 

Thinking about her mother’s admission, Brianna recalled blackmailing Lord John into posing as her fiancé to fend off her aunt’s constant stream of suitors. She felt a considerable amount of guilt for her initial coercion - threatening to expose his desire for men - but the friendship that grew from those weeks spent together was one she deeply cherished.

 

Would she have truly married Lord John if things played out differently? If her parents had been unable to find Roger alive, or if they themselves had never returned from their search? Possibly, for the well being of herself and her child. 

 

A sniffle came from Claire’s direction, pulling Brianna out of her own mind. Glancing up from her cucumber vine, she saw her mother wiping away tears with the back of her dirt ridden hand. 

 

“Mama?” Bree moved towards her, lightly placing her hand on her mother’s arm in a calming gesture. “What is it?”

 

“Oh Bree, it truly was horrible.” Claire abandoned the spade she had been digging with and tried to wipe her hands clean with her earth covered apron. “Losing you, Roger, the children, - it almost ripped me to pieces. But then to think I had lost Jamie, too . . .” Her voice trailed off, the memory of those few weeks, the loss and pain of it all, threatened to overwhelm her again.

 

Brianna knelt beside her, wrapped an arm about her mother’s shoulders and pulled her close. With a deep breath, Claire composed herself and continued.

 

“John pulled me back from the edge, made me realize that I still had so much to live for.” The tears slowed, but the trails they left on her mother’s cheeks glistened in the late morning sun.

 

“And William-” Claire brought her hand up and caressed Bree’s cheek like she had done so many times when she was young. “You are very much alike . . . all three of you.” A slight snort, almost a laugh, escaped her then, the ghost of a remembered moment fleeting across her face.

 

“They gave you comfort, didn’t they?” Bree asked, loosening her hold on her mother.

 

“They did just that,” Claire said, a smile finally settling on her face. “In more ways than they realize.” 

 

Bree nodded in understanding, knowing full well herself how important a single connection could be to cementing a person’s will to carry on. Roger had been that for her when her mother had left to be with Jamie again. Then once more - along with Jem and Mandy - when they returned to their own time. 

 

“You do what you must for love and family,” Bree said. “And as much as he may begrudge it, John is family.”

 

With a final squeeze, Bree returned to her picking duties and Claire resumed planting the pumpkin seeds.

 

But as Bree turned her attention back to the ripe cucumber crop, a thought occurred to her. She glanced over her shoulder and directed a final question to Claire.

 

“Mama? Did you and Lord John . . . ?” Her voice trailed off. When her mother looked up and met her eye, Brianna held up a cucumber and wiggled it, a devilish smirk playing on her lips. 

 

“Brianna Ellen!” Claire’s face held a look of complete offense and quickly turned away, focusing suspiciously hard on digging the holes for her seeds. Brianna held back the laugh bubbling up her throat as her mother’s ears turned a distinct shade of pink.

  
  



End file.
